Wall Street Zen Upgrades STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) to “Buy”

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

STAA has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group set a $34.00 target price on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings raised STAAR Surgical from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Wedbush lowered their price target on STAAR Surgical from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.00.

STAAR Surgical Stock Performance

Shares of STAA opened at $25.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of -2,521,000.00 and a beta of 1.22. STAAR Surgical has a fifty-two week low of $15.59 and a fifty-two week high of $35.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.66.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. STAAR Surgical had a net margin of 0.16% and a return on equity of 8.43%. The business had revenue of $83.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that STAAR Surgical will post 0.39 EPS for the current year.

STAAR Surgical declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to purchase up to 5.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of STAAR Surgical

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STAA. Two Seas Capital LP grew its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 1,304,957 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $29,505,000 after purchasing an additional 240,568 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Management Inc. raised its position in STAAR Surgical by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 878,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $16,419,000 after purchasing an additional 138,499 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in STAAR Surgical by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 820,782 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $15,348,000 after purchasing an additional 230,582 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in STAAR Surgical in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,578,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 257.7% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 135,200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,528,000 after acquiring an additional 97,400 shares during the last quarter. 96.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

STAAR Surgical Company Profile

STAAR Surgical is a medical device company focused on ophthalmic surgery and vision correction. The company develops, manufactures and markets implantable lenses and related products designed to reduce or eliminate dependence on glasses or contact lenses.

Its principal product line is the EVO Visian Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL), a lens implanted inside the eye to correct myopia, with or without astigmatism. Unlike procedures that remove corneal tissue, ICL surgery preserves the eye’s natural lens and is designed to be removable.